Mečislovas Reinys

Mečislovas Reinys (5 February 1884 – 8 November 1953) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic titular archbishop and professor at Vytautas Magnus University. He was the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs from September 1925 to April 1926. He was imprisoned by the Soviets in Vladimir Central Prison where he died in 1953. His beatification case was opened in 1998 and he was recognized as a martyr in 2000.

Born into a family of peasants, Reinys received his master's from the Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy and doctorate from the Catholic University of Leuven. He returned to Lithuania in 1914 and became an active participant in the Lithuanian cultural and political life in Vilnius. He taught at Vilnius Priest Seminary, chaired the Lithuanian Education Society Rytas, and drafted political program of the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party. In the interwar period, he was active in many other organizations and societies, including the Catholic youth organizations Ateitis and Pavasaris as well as the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science.

In 1922, he moved to Kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania, and became a professor of psychology at Vytautas Magnus University. In September 1925, Reinys became the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Leonas Bistras. During his short tenure, Reinys began negotiations regarding the Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact (signed in September 1926) and normalized Lithuania's relations with the Holy See that soured after the Concordat of 1925 with Poland. On 4 April 1926, Pope Pius XI issued a bull which established the ecclesiastical province in Lithuania, including the Diocese of Vilkaviškis of which Reinys was named coadjutor bishop. The bull was harshly criticized by the opposition forcing Reinys to resign. After a conflict with bishop Antanas Karosas, Reinys became more involved in diocesan affairs and started teaching at the Vilkaviškis Priest Seminary in 1934.

In July 1940, Reinys was appointed titular archbishop of Cypsela and auxiliary archbishop of Vilnius. This brought him to conflict with archbishop Romuald Jałbrzykowski who supported Polonization efforts. After Jałbrzykowski's arrest by the German Gestapo, Reinys became the administrator of the archdiocese and began undoing some of the Polonization efforts (e.g. replacing arrested Polish priest with Lithuanian or Belarusian priests). This brought him into conflict with Polish activists. After the Soviet re-occupation, Soviet security agencies attempted to persuade Reinys to cooperate. When he refused, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison. He died in Vladimir Central Prison in November 1953.